


Home Sweet Home

by astromadi



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angry Billy Hargrove, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Canon Related, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Steve Harrington, Getting Back Together, Hurt Steve Harrington, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad Ending, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, cheating?, idk i was in my feelings, they talk abt weed at the end soo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-09 18:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19892149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astromadi/pseuds/astromadi
Summary: Steve Harrington comes back to Hawkins after working in Michigan for two months. Billy Hargrove comes across something Steve brought home that questions the integrity of their relationship.*To be read with Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue playing*





	1. Chapter 1

2:47 p.m., August 5th, 1985  
He’s had an ache for Hawkins ever since he left. Steve had been gone for the summer in Michigan filing documents at his dad’s new law firm. His days faded together into a warm haze; nothing stood out except for that one armed robbery in July.  
He ached for a touch that wasn’t the from the young temp that followed him to the coffee machine. He ached for Billy and his smell. Before he left, Billy packed a t-shirt for Steve so he wouldn’t be completely without him. The t-shirt lost the smell of tobacco, sweat and woody whiskey in the middle of July, leaving Steve to live out the rest of the summer on his own.  
Steve would make the trip back home tomorrow and it didn’t seem like time was on his side. His last day at the firm was met with cheek kisses from the receptionist and harsh handshakes from the snotty attorneys. The temp gave Steve a card and told him not to open it until he got home. She sealed it with a blood red kiss. He kept it, curious to read what she had to say about him.  
He would leave tomorrow and swear to himself to never go back to Michigan.  
9:23 a.m., August 6th, 1985  
Steve turned the key for the last time on the shitty apartment he had been staying in for the past two months. His dad promised him something nice, but quaint. That’s one way to phrase it. He turned back around and walked towards his car, ready to get on the road and get home to Billy. His touch was only 3 hours away and Steve will make sure nothing gets in the way of that.  
12:48 p.m., August 6th, 1985  
Steve pulled into an empty driveway, his parents were probably away for another conference or case in the city. His dad wouldn’t leave a note telling him, it’s not like Steve needed to know where he was. He pulled his bags from the trunk of his car and walked towards the front door to his house. He sighed and dropped his forehead against the door, breathing in the “shit-air” as Billy liked to say. Steve never really understood that; maybe California smelled ‘cleaner’ than Hawkins. He would never really know, it’s not like he’ll ever leave Indiana. His dad always told him that he’d “be lucky to get a job in the city with that attitude.” He was probably right.  
He unlocked the door and shut it with his foot. Big house, no parents, it seemed to always follow Steve’s name; it’s what he was known for. There was nothing else that stood out about him to anyone else. Sometimes, not even Billy.  
He walked upstairs to his room and dropped his bag off. The letter the temp gave him was still unopened. He tore open the envelope with his pinky and glanced over the writing on the paper. Something about spending her summer with him and hoping he’ll call. She wrote her number at the bottom of the page and left another lipstick mark on her signature. He had someone else to love.  
All Steve wanted was to take a nap but he promised Henderson to give him a call as soon as he got home. He figured he’d call Billy too.  
He dialed the number scrawled on the back of a coupon to Orange Julius, Steve noticed it expired on the 1st. So much for a welcome home treat. He waited for the cut in the ringing.  
“Henderson’s, who’s calling?”  
It was Dustin’s mom, she seemed peppier than usual. Maybe that was a sign.  
“Hi Ms. Henderson, it’s Steve. Is Dustin around?”  
“Sure, honey! Let me get him on the phone.”  
Steve heard Ms. Henderson muffle the speaker and yell “DUSTY! STEVE IS ON THE TELEPHONE!” He hoped Dustin was excited to hear that. The audio seemed to clear up.  
“Harrington! Good to see you can remember to call me!”  
“Of course, how has it been without me?”  
Steve secretly hoped that everything had changed, but he couldn’t count on it.  
“Without my second mom around? We’ve been running too wild, raising too much hell.”  
Steve was relieved. His lack of presence impacted Hawkins in some way.  
“Sounds like you needed someone to keep an eye on you. How is everyone?”  
“Good, we’ve seen nearly every movie that Starcourt can offer. Back to the Future was a real hit in the gang.”  
“I’ll have to make sure to see it before it’s off the big screen.” Steve sighed. Talking to Henderson felt like coming back to a story and jumping right back into the rhythm. It felt right. After a summer of feeling out of place, he felt like he was home at last.  
“For sure! We’ll have to see it together. I promise I won’t talk through it like when we saw Karate Kid last summer.”  
“Sounds like a plan Henderson. Sometime next week?”  
“I’ll see what’s going on and ring you. By the way, Max says Billy misses you, give him a call and don’t tell him you called me first. I don’t want to get grabbed by the collar again.”  
Steve felt his stomach grow light. Billy missed him and voiced that to Max. That’s something Steve didn’t expect to hear today.  
“I’ll make sure to leave you out of it. Thanks, man.”  
“Welcome home, Harrington.”  
And with that, the line went silent. Steve held the phone handle in his hand for a moment. He couldn’t really imagine people missing him. Steve knew he cared for Dustin and the gang, and especially Billy. But, other people voicing that they missed him, it felt weird. It felt out of place. His parents never welcomed him home when he came home from the camps his parents signed him up for. They just went about their business and Steve was left to his own devices for most of his life. As soon as his parents didn’t have to watch him 24/7, they let him roam. Alone.  
He straightened his spine up again. He began to dial the numbers all too familiar and thought of his boyfriend. It had been so long since Steve braided Billy’s hair in the moonlight on the hood of the Camaro. It had been so long since they shared a cigarette together in the parking lot of Hawkins High, long after a baseball game. It had been so long since Steve got to kiss him and hold him. He was left to his own devices with no one else to rely on; no one else to be himself around.  
As soon as the phone started to ring, Steve’s heartbeat picked up, out of excitement and pure anxiety. Steve hadn’t heard Billy’s voice in so long. The only phone he had access to was at the firm and Steve was never allowed to make personal calls there. He called Billy twice while he was gone. Once when he was in Ann Arbor for about a week and the second after he messed up filing a document and the lead attorney of the case yelled at him. Both calls were from the payphone outside of the diner near his apartment. He spent a lot of time in that neon diner. He got pretty friendly with the cook and, eventually, his eggs were always done perfectly.  
He never told the cook about Billy. He didn’t want any part of his relationship to slip out, especially while he was in Ann Arbor. He wanted that job to finish smoothly so he could get home and resume the rest of his life.  
“Who is it?”  
The voice was unfamiliar and burning, like if you didn’t answer the question, you would face the wrath of the person on the other side. It was Neil.  
“I-it’s Steve, I’m friends with Billy. Is he around?”  
“He’s at work.”  
“O-okay, thanks.”  
The phone hung up quicker than Steve could blink. Of course Billy was at work. It’s the beginning of August in Hawkins, the pool must be busy. Guess it’s time to pull his swimming trunks out of his bag.  
3:22 p.m., August 6th, 1985  
It was the peak of the summer heat and the crowd at the pool reflected that. Steve arrived in the middle of the adult swim half hour. He looked up at the lifeguard tower and saw a girl, probably Heather. Billy told him about her. Apparently she was a bitch whose only personality traits were doing coke on the weekend and pretending to know the words to Twisted Sister songs. Billy must be around somewhere. Steve walked over to Heather and asked if Billy was around.  
“That jackass? He’s the reason I’m here. He called out this morning. Something about someone coming home.”  
Steve nodded and said a small “thanks.” Where the hell was he?  
Steve got back into his car and drove home. Why would Billy skip out on work? He knew his dad would never let that happen or Billy would suffer a black eye. As he pulled around the corner on Woodland, he saw Billy’s Camaro in his driveway. Steve smiled to himself.  
As he walked into the house, he yelled out for his boyfriend.  
“Billy, you in here?”  
“Up here, Harrington.”  
Steve walked towards the stairs and looked up. Billy was leaning over the railing with a red polo with only the last few buttons buttoned in. He had already lit a cigarette but it was fresh, he hadn’t been here long.  
“Miss me much?” Billy smirked.  
“Of course I did, jackass.”  
Steve ran up the half flight of stairs and hugged Billy harder than he had ever hugged him. He breathed in Billy’s scent like it was his last breath. Nothing about him had changed. Not a new scar or bruise. His arms felt the same, warm and strong. Something Steve always need to feel from him. Billy was his solace. His home.  
Billy loosened up and pulled Steve’s face up to his and kissed him softly. Nothing too intense, something to ease Steve back into the norm. They had the whole rest of the day to love each other, no reason to go full in. Steve was the first to pull away.  
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left.”  
“I could say the same.”  
Billy grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to Steve’s room. Steve let go of Billy’s hand.  
“You mind if I take a shower? I feel like shit after being in the car that long.”  
“No problem, babe. The better you feel, the better I feel.”  
Billy smirked again and winked at his boyfriend. Steve smiled and laughed softly. He turned to walk into the bathroom and left Billy a lasting look.  
4:13 p.m., August 6th, 1985  
Steve wiped the mirror off with his towel and took a look in the mirror. He looked at his eyes, his lips, his nose. It all seemed mismatched, like nothing went with the other. He looked like leftover bits mixed in a bowl. How could some that looked like Billy ever find something attractive in him? He left it at that. No use in making himself upset if it’s not going to get any better.  
He looked at his reflection one last time and turned to open the door. He left it open behind him to let some of the steam out. His shampoo smelled different in the house than it did in the apartment. He walked down the hall towards his room. His door was cracked.  
“Billy? Still in there?” He knocked gingerly.  
His question was met with a soft hum. He pushed the door open slightly to see Billy sitting at the side of his bed with the letter next to him on the floor.  
“Did you ever plan to tell me about your summer fling?” Billy said, staring at the ground.  
“What fling?”  
“Your little romance with Miss Kimberly?”  
Kimberly. The temp from the firm. Billy must have read her letter that was sitting on Steve’s bed.  
“Billy, it’s not what you thi-”  
“Really, Harrington? Because the way she made it out is that you two had fallen in love at your piece of shit desk job.”  
Billy looked up. His eyes were shining but his face was dry. His eyebrows pushed at the skin between them and the smirk Steve saw on him last was long gone.  
“S-she was just a temp, she pushed herself on me. I swear, I didn’t do anything to provoke her.”  
“I just can’t believe you sometimes, Steve. It’s always someone putting themselves on you and you had nothing to do with it. I know you, Steve,” his words were seething out of his teeth. “I know you crave that attention and you don’t know what to do with yourself if the attention isn’t on you. This is bullshit, Harrington.”  
“Billy, I swear, I can expla-”  
Billy stood up and walked towards Steve. He stood in his face and Steve could smell the anger pouring out of him.  
“You know what, Harrington, I don’t want your goddamn excuses anymore. If I wasn’t enough for you, that’s that. You’re the one who didn’t call - never gave me a fucking number to reach you. I missed you too but I didn’t go out and fuck the first bimbo that gave me pretty eyes. I waited for you. I spent hours at that shitty pool and knew there were eyes on me. But I didn’t give a damn. I waited. I wanted you and only you. But I guess I wasn’t enough for you to wait for.”  
“Billy, please it’s not like that at all. You’ve got it wrong.”  
“Get out of my goddamn way before I punch the lights out of you.”  
Billy had never spoken to him like this. The usual softness of Billy’s eyes was gone. It was unadulterated rage. Steve looked at him and let a tear fall down his cheek. Billy never broke eye contact.  
“Now, Harrington.”  
Billy pushed Steve into his door and stormed past him.  
“Don’t expect to see me around soon.”  
With that, Billy jogged down the stairs. From the corner of the railing, Steve could see Billy wipe underneath his eyes and nose.  
Steve slid to the bottom of the door and bit his wrist to hide the sob that had been scratching its way to the top of his throat. He fucked up this time and he had no idea how to fix what had broken right in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2: Retrieved Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finds Billy again and things fall back into place, together is the new normal for the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh!!! I finally wrote the second part. sorry about the wait, I've been getting all my junk together because I'm moving into college this weekend but i finally found time to sit down and write!! if y'all like this lemme know because now that I'm finally writing the shit i wanna read I want to keep doing it. maybe i'll make a blog and start doing little things on there?? lemme know and I will hook y'all up!! college will be a lil hectic but this is such a nice break that I would love to be working it into my daily routine!

12:22 p.m., August 21st, 1985  
It had been two weeks since Billy walked out on Steve. His parents had come home already and school was back in session, even if the two of them were never going back to Hawkins High. The kids had already gotten into their daily life routine and Steve was not worked into that routine very often. He picked up a job at the local YMCA as a receptionist. There wasn’t much he was good at but taking calls and organizing papers, so that’s what he did. There was another guy he worked with named Zachary who didn’t speak much. He was a bit older and had a head of coiled brown hair, the kind that if you brushed it out, it would puff up and make him look like a mushroom. His manager, Michelle, was nice but a little overbearing. She reminded him of his mom. He’s only been here for a couple of days and he already knows what his day to day is going to feel like for the next couple of months, or however long he’ll be here. Oh well, it’s not like there was much else for him in Hawkins.   
10:57 a.m., August 22nd, 1985  
Steve had been in his chair for a little over an hour and the day had moved even slower than before. The usual business men had come in for their morning work out and the overworked mothers had sped past him to get their kids to daycare. Eventually, Steve wanted to do some of the youth basketball workshops but he’d have to be an employee a little bit longer and probably voice that wish to his manager. Steve stared at the member’s list for a while, running through the names he would become familiar with sooner or later. Mark, Samantha, Andre, Bethany, Sophia, Billy, Thea, Yuse-.   
“Billy?”  
“What, Harrington?” Zachary pipped up.   
“S-sorry, it’s nothing.”  
Steve averted his eyes back up to the name. Billy Hargrove. Someone he tried to block out of his mind over the past couple of days. Someone who walked out on him just over two weeks ago. Steve should have figured this out by now. Of course Billy went here, there wasn’t another gym around Hawkins that was open year round and had decent working equipment and people to spot you. Steve knew, no matter how much Billy liked to deny it, he liked having someone around to help him if he went a little too hard. Or to always have someone watching him, he liked showing people how strong he was. Steve never really knew why.   
How regular was he? It had been only a couple days since Steve got a job here after his parents pressured him to do something with his life if he wasn’t going to college immediately. In that time, he never saw Billy. He always worked in the morning and he knew Billy liked working out in the morning as well. Does he know he works here? Has he been avoiding walking through those doors because he saw Steve before Steve saw him?  
It was only a matter of time until they crossed paths again.  
4:39 p.m., August 22nd, 1985  
It was almost time for Steve to go home. It was almost time for Steve to shut down for the rest of the night and not have to be fully attentive to anything. It was almost time for Steve to not have to be waiting with bated breath, wondering if Billy would push open those double doors. And yet, Steve no longer had to wait. Just as he was thinking that he was almost to ignorant bliss, a lost lover walked in and slid his membership card across the desk to Steve. Steve guessed Billy didn’t give one thought about who was behind that desk. He held his breath as he looked up to Billy for the first time in weeks.   
“Billy?”  
Billy looked down at Steve and his eyes went wide enough to see the white surrounding his iris’. He grabbed his card out of Steve’s hand and walked off, mumbling. Steve swore he heard him say:  
“I’m not ready to see you, Harrington.”  
11:14 p.m., August 22nd, 1985  
It had been a little over 7 hours since Steve saw Billy and time never seemed to move so slow. Steve left the YMCA before Billy came out of the gym floor. He did notice that Billy parked his notable Camaro a row in front of Steve. There’s no way he didn’t notice Steve’s BMW in the parking lot, there’s no way.   
He did notice the car had a noticeable dent on the bumper. Steve couldn’t help to think that it had something to do with the incident, as he now liked to call it. Billy may have driven fast and seemed reckless but Steve knew he would never do anything too reckless that would hurt his car. Steve thought the only thing that Billy loved more than Steve was his car.   
And what on God’s good Earth did Billy mean by not being ready to see him. Steve knew from that that there was going to be a day where Billy would be ready to talk this out with him. Steve knew he fucked up. He knew that he didn’t get to explain himself in time but he also took no precaution. Steve blamed himself entirely for the incident. That letter. That goddamn letter sat there waiting for Billy to read it. Steve wanted to laugh with Billy about it but instead he was an idiot and just left it there and let Billy’s thoughts run wild. He let his whole life come crashing down and did nothing to stop it. It’s his fault Billy doesn’t want to see him.  
But, someone must be looking out for him or Billy would have never walked through those doors and seen Steve again for the first time in weeks.   
8:31 a.m., August 23rd, 1985  
Steve turned in his bed, picking up immediately that there was no one else in his bed. No lover to wake up to and watch as the sun came up over their sleeping face. No Billy.   
He tried to bring the comforter over his head but he felt something shift closer to his feet as he did so. He sat up in his bed and saw a tray with a breakfast sandwich and a note, written in his mother’s handwriting. It read:  
“Steve, your father and I are taking a vacation to Lake Erie since school’s back in. We’ll be back on Tuesday. P.S. there’s a voicemail for you on the box.”  
So he’ll have the house to himself for a couple days. Great. Business as usual. He figured the message was from his manager about God knows what, she left messages often on the house phone  
Steve had the weekend off from work anyways but everyone moved away for college. No one was around to come over and drink beer till 3 a.m. anymore. It was Steve, alone in a big house with no parents and no one to take advantage of this common occurrence. He used to have Billy come over and they would get high and talk on the couch for hours. Billy always had better weed than Steve but Steve insisted to buy all the snacks Billy loved. Steve got Billy’s cravings down to a science at one point. He always got grapes, carrots and veggie dip, BBQ chips and endless amounts of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Something in just about every food group; a well-rounded munchies sesh was the best for both boys.   
Steve walked down the stairs and poured himself a coffee from the pot his parents left in the kitchen, it was cold but he drank it anyways. He looked over to the phone and voicemail box on the counter and figured he’d see what Michelle wanted. He hoped she didn’t want him to come in today.   
He hit the button, sat back, and listened.  
“Harrington, it’s Billy. We need to talk.”  
Steve just about shot up from leaning back on the bar. When the hell did Billy call and why did his mom not say anything about it. She had been questioning why Billy hadn’t been around lately. She had no clue about their relationship and Steve wanted to keep it that way. The less everyone knew about them, the better.   
Steve just about dropped his mug on the bar and called the number all too familiar to him immediately. The phone rang a couple times and no one picked up. Go figure, it’s Friday so maybe everyone’s at work or at school. Steve left a message he never thought he would.   
“It’s Steve, meet me at my house at 11.”  
Now all he had to do was wait.  
11:06 a.m., August 23rd, 1985  
Steve should know by now that Billy was never on time but he couldn’t help his mind drifting. What if he didn’t get the message, what if Neil deleted it before Billy could catch it, what if he did get it and just doesn’t want to come over?  
Steve sat at the bar for a while in his t-shirt and shorts, he always felt weird in this kind of outfit. He was always a sweater and jeans kind of guy but the middle of August heat won’t let him do that, no matter how nice the air conditioning in his house is.   
As he was thinking to himself, he heard the familiar rumble of Billy’s car pull into his driveway. The consistent rumble of the engine matched the beating of his heart. Racing. He noticed it wasn’t as fast as the time Billy first kissed him. Maybe this isn’t going to go as badly as he thinks it will. Steve stood up and walked to the door as Billy walked a slower pace from his car to the door. Just as Billy lifted his fist to knock, Steve opened the door. Billy noticed his eyes were glassy but he doesn’t look like he was crying. His hair was done but seemed a little disheveled and not as perfect as he usually had it.  
“Hey.”  
Billy brought his eyes down from Steve’s hair.  
“Hey.”  
Steve moved out of the way and Billy walked by him. There was nothing that felt more uncomfortable than that moment.  
Billy went and sat in Steve’s dad’s chair, not in his usual spot on the right of the couch. Steve sat on the left of the couch, closer to the chair with a small table in between them.  
“What the hell happened in Michigan?” Billy spoke up first.  
Steve looked from the floor to his hands that he had clasped together, mimicking how Billy and him used to hold hands in the privacy of Steve’s house.   
“That letter -- I didn’t mean for you to read it like that. Nothing happened between Kimberly and me. She wrote that because she did have a crush on me and I noticed that. I never acted on it and I never wanted to. I wanted to come home to you and never have to think about her again. I wanted us to laugh together about that goddamn letter. I never wanted to hurt you. I love you Billy and I could never do something like that to you. I don’t know exactly how you feel but I’ve been through something like this before. I never want you to feel like that again.”  
Steve was surprised he got through that without his voice shaking. It was the words he had been thinking about the entire time. The minute Billy walked out of his door he thought about what he would say to apologize.   
Billy sat in silence for a second. He lifted his gaze from the carpet in front of Steve’s feet to Steve’s face. He knew he had tears in his eyes but he would never let them fall. He missed Steve ever since he walked out of his door that day. He knew there was more to the story than he thought but he had to get out of Steve’s house before he punched him square in the jaw. He didn’t want to hurt Steve but he couldn’t handle it anymore. He had to get out of there.  
“Thank God. I left because I didn’t want to hit you. I didn’t wanna become like him, getting violent before I knew everything. I wish I gave you the chance before I left but I just couldn’t handle it.”  
“I’m sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry.”  
Steve got up and went to hug Billy. Luckily there was enough room on the chair for both of them to uncomfortably fit together. Steve buried his face into Billy’s shoulder and let one choked sob leave his throat after holding it in for so long. Billy won’t admit it but Steve felt a tear roll down his face and hit his head. Billy kissed the top of Steve’s head and whispered to him.  
“I missed you so fucking much, Steve.”  
Billy lifted Steve’s chin and kissed him. God, he missed that boy.   
1:02 p.m., August 23rd, 1985  
The two sat together on the couch for a while, talking about their time apart, talking about Steve’s new job. Billy hadn’t picked up a new gig yet but he now thought working in the gym at the YMCA wasn’t such a bad idea.   
“Are your parents not around?”  
“No, they left for Lake Erie, they won’t be back until Tuesday.” Steve winked.  
“Well, luckily for us, I got an insane deal on some good shit from Andrew and bought a half ounce. We have a weekend ahead of us, Harrington.”  
“Guess we’ll have to take a trip to the grocery store and stock up.” Steve smiled up at Billy.  
“Guess so.”  
As the two sat there in their retrieved love, they both felt safe. Safe from all the shit in the world that wanted them as far apart as possible. Safe from everything that wanted them upset and angry at each other. They felt normal again, they felt whole again.


End file.
